I need a cheap reciever or pre-pro with at-least 5.1 pre-outs and all the usual surround formats DD EX/ DTS ES etc. I am not worried about HDMI at all right now. I'm switching all of the speakers to a 5.1 set-up with powered monitors all-around in the living room and my nearly 10 year old Sony without pre-outs is not going to work. I'm willing to spend a bit of money on something that is solid, and will be a useful bit of equipment for a long time. I actually have 2(soon to be 3) surround set-ups and this will be a stop gap until I decide what I want to get for the main system to handle all of the new HDMI/1080P/ madness. After I get that unit
this would get relegated to a secondary 5.1 system that won't need to be so up to date.
All that said I'd like to keep it below $300 if possible. Once I go much higher I may as well spend a little more to get something nice. I am not afraid of used gear at all.
What are some good 2-3 year old units I should look at? Anything new I should look at?
I won't be using the internal amps so with or without doesn't matter to me.